Manmohan's visit dominates headlines in Saudi media

In a departure from protocol, King Abdullah's brother and Second Deputy Premier and Defence Minister Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz and the entire Saudi cabinet had received Singh when he arrived on a three-day visit yesterday.|

The front pages of all Saudi newspapers carried Singh's arrival story, with leading daily ArabNews placing it under headline 'Indian PM on historic visit'.The paper carried pictures of Singh shaking hands with Crown Prince and other members of the Royal family at the King Khaled International Airport here.The trip marks the first visit by an Indian prime minister since a visit by Indira Gandhi in 1982.

"It was an unprecedented welcome to our prime minister," Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Vishnu Prakash was quoted as saying by the Arab News.

Singh is slated to hold discussions with King Abdullah and is scheduled to deliver a speech at the Shura Council, Saudi Arabia's Consultative Assembly, tomorrow which is a rare honour for a visiting foreign dignitary, Saudi Gazette reported."Growing extremism and violence across West Asia and parts of South Asia from Palestine to Pakistan will be the main focus of talks," the paper said.

On the sidelines of the Prime Minister's visit, Saudi minister of Commerce and Industry Abdullah bin Ahmed Zainal Alireza met a delegation of Indian businessmen last evening.
According to the Saudi Press Agency, ways of enhancing commercial and industrial relations between the two countries were reviewed during the meeting.

The meeting was also attended by Saudi Arabia's undersecretary of the ministry of commerce and industry for foreign trade Abdullah bin Abdulrahman Al-Hamoudi and Saudi Ambassador to India Faisal Trad.

Meanwhile, another SPA report said the head of Indian business delegation asked Saudi businessmen to invest in mining fields and take advantage of the vast opportunities in India during a meeting organised by Riyadh Chamber of Commerce.

The Riyadh Chamber of Commerce Chairman Abdularahman Al-Jiraisi said Saudi businessmen are keen to promote bilateral trade exchange and cited that India is the fifth biggest trade partner of the Kingdom.

"The Kingdom is undergoing an economic boom and is seeking partners to take part in development process and wished that import and export levels between the two countries would get a boost," he said.